It’s almost not fair at times for the rest of the league.
Year after year the Wings are supposed to be old, they’re suppose to be done and they’re suppose to come falling back to earth.
Of course it’s only the beginning of the season but so far this season Detroit has shown that 2011-12 will be yet another year that the Wings soar.
An example?
After shutting out the Colorado Avalanche last weekend and the defending Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks the other night, the Wings displayed their relentlessness Saturday night.
After falling behind 2-0 against the Wild, the Wings fought back to beat Minnesota 3-2 in overtime from the Xcel Energy Center.
Detroit improved to 4-0 on the season and dominated the Wild in shots 41-14.
Johan Franzen captured the victory for Detroit in the overtime period on the power-play. Franzen’s power-play goal was the first for the Wings on 19 power-play attempts.
“I got the puck from Nick (Lidstrom), tried to go across to Whitey (White), but they got a stick on it and the puck bounced to Homer (Tomas Holmstrom),” Franzen said. “He put it behind his back to me. I got cross-checked in the back.
“I haven’t seen it yet, I don’t know how the puck went in. I thought the net was off, that’s all I was worried about.”
After trailing 2-0, the Wings were able to get on the board with 48 seconds in the second period when defenseman Ian White lit the lamp for the second time in four games.
“We were pressuring them like crazy but didn’t have anything to show for it,” Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard said. “To get on the board, you could see us come alive on the bench and feel it in the dressing room that we were going to find a way to get this done.”
White, acquired in the offseason, sensed that as well.“There’s so much veteran presence in here, it seems like we can turn it up almost anytime and dominate the game,” White said. “We didn’t get riled. We kept pressing.”
The Wings later got the equalizer in the third period when Jiri Hudler redirected a pass from defenseman Jakub Kindl.
Hudler who’s been criticized for much of last season has certainly gotten off on the right foot this year netting two goals and two assists.
The Wings now have another long layoff. Their next game comes Friday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Joe Louis Arena.
Ref: Mlive.com, AP (image)
